It was only Monday when we listed all the reasons the Yankees shouldn’t sign Rafael Soriano. On Thursday, we read that the Yankees signed him to a horrendous 3 year/$35 million deal.
Soriano has player options after the first and second years of the deal, according to the source. In the first year, Soriano will receive $10 million and get an additional $1.5 million if he opts out. In the second year, he’ll receive $11 million and an additional $1.5 million if he opts out. He’ll get $14 million in the third year of his contract.
This deal is so stupid from so many different levels: cost, length, expected production, giving our first round pick to a division rival, injury history, overbidding despite lack of market demand. It’s like we’ve gone back to pre-2006 decision-making. Have we? ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted:
Looks like there was a split in Yankees’ org. over this — since it took place just days after Cashman said he wouldn’t give up No. 1 pick.
Furthermore, any attempt to spin this deal as positive is deserving of a flavorful cocktail:
This terrible deal caps off an offseason in which the Yankees positioned their starting rotation so poorly that they could only rely on hope in their efforts to improve it — hope that Cliff Lee would sign and hope that Andy Pettitte wouldn’t retire. As it stands currently, the organization with the greatest resources in American sports will enter the 2011 season with two reliable starting pitchers and an incredibly overpaid set-up man. Simply ridiculous.
Something is wrong in the corporate offices of Yankee Stadium.
Has C-Money gone mad, or is something else going on?
*Props to Marshall Seymour, Gary Wallace, and Louis Winthorpe III for uniting over this jawdrop.
146 Comments
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 14:15
Who’s the other reliable starter? I hope you don’t think Phil Hughes meets that definition after his first full season as a starter to his name.
[Censored] January 14, 2011 14:50
You’re so vain. Didn’t you notice a huge drop off as he approached his previous high inning mark? The guy’s arm had to be exhausted by the end of the season. If he can stay healthy this season despite that abuse he is going to be money.
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 15:26
No, I noticed the drop off before he reached his previous highs. And if the innings were a problem what’s going to happen this year when he approaches 200 for the first time? Either way he’s still not “reliable”, since he’s got one season as a starter under his belt.
kei igawa January 20, 2011 19:01
kei igawa ftw
Steve January 14, 2011 14:17
So Olney just confirmed that the Steins went over Cashman’s head to do this deal.
That is BAAAAAAAD news no matter how well this deal works out.
Cashman is not always right, but he HAS to be the one making the decisions. Even though Cashman isn’t perfect, no one should want to go back to the 2002-2005 ERA of the Yankee FO.
Mr. Beer January 14, 2011 14:23
Agreed. I’m going to hope that the people in baseball operations make the baseball decisions and Hank and Randy stay the fuck out of the way, but this looks like trouble.
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 14:21
I don’t see how the Soriano signing is a worse transgression than the rotation Cashman has assembled.
Col. John Matrix January 14, 2011 14:30
If Levine/Hank/Hal are calling shots again, it will be impossible to know what Cashman is responsible for. Levine brought back Arod. I bet the ownership set the terms for the Jeter contract. We could be going back to the old days. Not good.
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 14:32
We won in the old days. I’d also take the 2002-2003 teams over many of the ones Cashman has assembled since he took over.
Steve January 14, 2011 14:37
Really? Because I’m counting 1 WS since Cash took over to zero from 2002-2005. Which also includes the worst playoff loss in franchise history. WTF are you talking about?
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 14:45
Playoffs are a crapshoot, you seem smart enough to know that.
cocksack January 14, 2011 14:30
Also the Yankees got a pick for Javier Vazquez who they paid just as much for last season to do absolutely nothing. It will be a pick maybe 10 or 15 behind the Yankees. So they trade Javier Vazquez and a first round pick for Rafael Soriano and a Supplemental pick. RELAXXXX.
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 14:32
What? I don’t think we offered Vazquez arbitration.
Steve January 14, 2011 14:37
We did, and we do get a pick.
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 14:44
Cool, though I’m not sure why pick positions are that important for a team that goes after signability guys anyway.
cocksack January 14, 2011 15:30
I am saying we will have the same amount of picks at the beginning of the draft that we did at the beginning of the offseason.
Peter January 14, 2011 14:46
Why do we keep giving player opt out options? We basically assume all the risk and can’t even get something out of it if he plays well because he will just opt out..
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 14:48
I’d be more irritated by this if the salary wasn’t stepped.
Mr. Beer January 14, 2011 14:54
Seriously. He pitches well, he bolts. He pitches shitty (unlikely, but still), he stays and the Yanks are forced to use their $11MMish reliever in low-leverage because his contract is untradeable. He gets hurt, he stays and the Yanks must pay for his rehab *and* find another guy to setup.
How is this anything but bad negotiating?
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 15:00
To be clear; I don’t like the options, but it’d be dumber if the options were there on a contract that was evenly distributed.
Steve January 14, 2011 15:04
I don’t think you are looking at it the right way.
The Yankees were reluctant to sign Soriano because of the lost pick and the $$$. If Soriano has a great year and opts out, the Yankees will get 2 draft picks in 2012 plus a year of great pitching without being on the hook for the rest of the contract.
If Soriano pitches well, it’s like a one year $11.5M contract and they recoup the picks.
On the other side of the coin, Boras gets his client a “3 year deal” with the potential to land him ANOTHER 3 year deal next winter.
It’s too much money for a reliever, but the opt out can actually work out for the Yankees.
Col. John Matrix January 14, 2011 15:07
His flyball happy ways will make that player option look really good to him.
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 15:10
Are we even going to get those picks with the new CBA?
We differ on this philosophically because I would like to keep him if he pitches well whereas you didn’t seem to want him either way. I would probably feel the same if our rotation wasn’t such a pile of crap, which is absolutely on Cashman’s back.
Steve January 14, 2011 15:15
No idea about the CBA, it’s a good point though.
Although if the new CBA does eliminate Type A status for relievers, then that also means the Yankees will be free to sign whomever they want next year to replace him.
Lot of moving parts.
Mr. Beer January 14, 2011 15:20
I understand what you’re driving at, and it makes sense. My problem is this: let’s say he has an awesome season and opts out. This year, Soriano had virtually no market – how does that change dramatically next year? He’s a closer on the wrong side of 30 with 3 major arm injuries in his career that wants top dollar with a sacrificed 1st rounder attached to him. And if a team with a protected first rounder signs him, then neither acquired pick will fall into the top 30. *This is the upside?*
I honestly hope it works out for all parties with the outcomes you mentioned: Soriano has a great season and helps pitch the Yanks to the Series, Yanks win number 28, Soriano opts out, declines arbitration and signs another silly contract with a contender, Yanks get 2 high picks; everyone is happy. The Yanks are certainly better on paper with him, and the contract is inked, so I guess this is what I’ll hope for.
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 15:31
I hate the options. I like having him. I’m not in the camp that is completely opposed to paying for a lock down reliever. I wouldn’t have done this deal were it not for the context of Cashman assembling such a crappy rotation.
Col. John Matrix January 14, 2011 15:53
Please explain how Soriano is a “lockdown reliever.”
Carly Simon January 14, 2011 16:15
Because he’s good at pitching.
cocksack January 14, 2011 16:32
You are talking to people who only look at pitching by peripherals so Joba should have won the Cy Young and pitched as well as Nolan Ryan in his prime last season and Rafael Soriano pitched like Hideki Irabu.
Steve January 14, 2011 16:46
Yes, we get it, his xFIP wasn’t that great. Therefore it negates everything that actually happened in real life over his entire career.
Opponents have hit .193/.259/.332 against him in almost 1600 plate appearances. In other words, he turns every hitter into Ramiro Pena. He’s a dominant reliever.
Ripping the deal for the $$ or the picks is legit. Implying he’s not good is absurd.
Steve January 14, 2011 15:32
It’s true that the pick might not be in the first round, but keep in mind that the Yankees had the 31st pick this year. Not exactly a great pick.
I think 2 picks in the supplemental round are better than the #31 pick. Although next year’s draft won’t be as good as this year’s, and you lose a year of development time. But that is part of the cost of having him for a year.
RandomSportsGuy January 14, 2011 15:40
Soriano and Rivera should be a TV show on Telemundo.
MItre January 14, 2011 18:44
So who the fuck are the 4th/5th starters?!
You do not want 300 to 400 innings of Nova/Mitre.
Soriano will not pitch more than 80 innings.
Nick Social January 14, 2011 19:09
We’re just going to have to wait and see who becomes available during the season.
Shut Up January 15, 2011 02:56
So, if any of you idiots had a billion dollars, you would have a problem overpaying for your new Ipod? The logic here is infantile. Who gives a crap if they overpaid. Does it somehow cost YOU more? They got a great reliver. Shut up and be happy morons.
MItre January 15, 2011 09:11
Shut the fuck up.
Who cares about $.
The rotation still sucks and
with crappy starting pitching you are the Toronto Blue Jays.
Kim Last January 17, 2011 11:19
Does levine have lumps?